College Football Rankings 2013: Projecting Week 9's Top 25 Teams

Upset Saturday came and went in Week 7, with seven ranked teams losing and a couple of top-10 upsets shaking up the polls.

Week 8 approaches with the rankings in turmoil, and with a number of high-profile games on the docket, they don't show any sign of restoring to order.

Florida State heads to Clemson for a battle of top-five teams that could decide the ACC and have major BCS implications. Meanwhile, out west, Stanford looks to save its Rose Bowl hopes by beating unbeaten UCLA in Palo Alto.

Those and a number of other gripping games will shape how the rankings look by Week 9.

Dropped from Rankings:

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Auburn will finally come down to Earth at Texas A&M this week. Even if the Tigers keep it close by controlling the line of scrimmage on offense, a loss by any margin will drop it from No. 24 in the AP poll to unranked.

Florida will still be one of the 25 best teams in America, but its resume won't be able to survive a second-straight loss, this time at Missouri. Already at No. 22, a third defeat of the season will drop it out of the rankings.

Washington is the same deal as Florida: One of the 25 best teams in America, but victim of a brutal stretch of scheduling. After crazy-physical games against Stanford and Oregon, the Huskies might have nothing left in the tank when they travel to Arizona State this weekend.

23. Michigan State

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Week 8 Opponent: vs. Purdue

Michigan State has finally, maybe, sorta found an offense to go with its world-beating defense, scoring 68 points in its two first Big Ten games.

If it can continue that trend against Purdue this week—which, to be honest, almost every FBS team could—the Spartans will find themselves at 6-1 with just one loss (at Notre Dame) and plenty of momentum behind them.

That one loss came at the hands of some dubious pass interference calls, and though it's not worth harping over, a few whistles gone the other way might have had MSU undefeated right now.

19. Oklahoma State

The Cowboys lost in Morgantown, but as we might see this Saturday, that's not a season-altering indictment. The Mountaineers are just good enough to feed off that crowd and beat some good teams.

This may not be the same, high-powered OSU attack of years past, but it's still one of the 20-or-so best in America. And combined with a defense that doesn't feel fluky, this might be one of the most balanced teams Mike Gundy has ever coached.

Oklahoma State should be able to cruise past surprisingly soft TCU this week and continue its slow ascent back up the rankings.

18. Virginia Tech

Shhh. Don't look now, but Logan Thomas has turned into a semi-decent quarterback.

After becoming a punchline in the first few weeks, Thomas—whose physical talent was never in question—has averaged a rating of 159.7 in his last three games and hasn't thrown a single interception.

If he can continue to move the offense and not turn the ball over, Virginia Tech can make a run to finish third (or even better) in the ACC. Its defense might legitimately be the best in America, and star cornerback Antone Exum hasn't even played a down yet.

The only loss on the Hokies' resume came against Alabama, which means they're undefeated against teams that aren't ranked No. 1 in the country.

16. Fresno State

Fresno State has mostly cakewalks on its schedule for the rest of the year, and it should be able to coast undefeated into the new MWC Championship Game.

Because of that lack of competition, it's not likely to make a big impression in any week and jump other teams that were victorious. Instead, it must simply take care of business by remaining undefeated, then hope for the teams ahead of it to lose.

This week, the Bulldogs jump from No. 17 to No. 16 on the heels of Texas Tech's upset loss in Morgantown.

14. UCLA

There's never a "good" time to get Stanford, but UCLA might be getting it at a particularly bad one.

The Cardinal's season is at a crossroads after last week's upset loss at Utah, and coming back home to Palo Alto, they are sure to be playing with passion and fire.

The Bruins are good enough, potentially, to pull the upset in Stanford Stadium. But Stanford has made a habit of ruining Pac-12 teams' perfect seasons and taking the air out of their national title hopes.

12. South Carolina

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Week 8 Opponent: at Tennessee

Like Baylor (and the next team on this list), South Carolina might fall down one spot even if it looks pretty good on Saturday.

That might be trickier than people think, though. Tennessee gave Georgia all it could handle in Knoxville a couple of weeks ago, and Butch Jones might finally be turning the Vols into a semi-competitive unit.

Still, South Carolina proved it could look good on the road last week, taking out some frustration on Arkansas and dropping 52 points in Fayetteville.

This one might not be a 45-point rout, but it shouldn't stay all that close either.

11. Miami (FL)

Either it stumbles at 1-4 North Carolina—which, despite pronounced struggles, does have enough talent to stay close—and everyone talks about what a letdown it was.

Or, the Hurricanes can make quick work of the Tar Heels, and everyone can talk about their easy schedule and how soft UNC is in 2013.

No matter what happens, folks are impressed by Miami's undefeated start but still waiting for it to win a big game in convincing fashion. The fluky, turnover-riddled Florida game can only hold up for so long.

9. Clemson

Folks have been unimpressed with a couple of Clemson performances this year, most recently a three-quarter sleepwalk—at home—against Boston College on Saturday.

Yes, the Tigers were looking ahead to this week, but there is still no excuse. Florida State's final game before heading to Memorial Stadium was a 63-0 rout of Maryland.

On top of the bye week factor that's working in FSU's favor, the Seminoles seem to have a more complete and consistent offense. Clemson's is more explosive, sure, but Florida State's is more efficient from down to down.

8. Missouri

Even without James Franklin, Missouri should still have the horses—and, more importantly, the home crowd advantage—to beat a reeling Florida team in Columbia.

So long as Maty Mauk doesn't get over-anxious, fitting the ball into tight spaces and turning it over, his legs and the weapons around him should be enough to post a couple of scores against the Gators.

If the Tigers' defense, emboldened by what should be a great atmosphere, comes out and plays like it did at Georgia, it's hard to envision Tyler Murphy putting up more than 17-20 points.

4. Ohio State

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Week 8 Opponent: vs. Iowa

There's not much for Ohio State to do at this point besides take care of business, stay undefeated, and wait for the teams around it to fall.

No one will get too excited if/when it beats Iowa in Columbus this week, but the Buckeyes can still make a claim for the BCS National Championship if they remain undefeated all season and teams like Oregon lose.

Whoever wins the Florida State-Clemson game will, in all likelihood, pass Ohio State in the polls.

But both of those teams still have an in-state SEC opponent (Florida and South Carolina) left on their schedule, so neither would be assured to stay there all season.